New scrutiny at US borders raises alarm
Travelers' electronic devices may be searched
By: Kathleen Wong
USA Today
..... A recent string of legal U.S. residents being detained or deported following information found o their cell phones is worrying some travelers they'll be stopped when traveling through the country's border.
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Earlier this month, [03/2025] Rasha Alawic, a Lebanese physician and assistant professor at Brown University, was flagged at Boston Logan International Airport by U.S. customs and border Protection. She was returning from visiting family when officers found photos and videos on her cell phone pertaining to Hezbollah. Her visa was canceled, and she's been deported back to Lebanon.
..... while not at the border, an Indian graduate student at Columbia whose visa was revoked self-deported to Canada after ICE raided her apartment, citing pro-Palestinian activity on her social media and participation in campus protests. Fellow student Mahmoud Khalil was a protest leader and is being held in immigration detention in Louisiana in what some Democratic senators are calling an abuse of immigration laws. Most recently, a Georgetown university researcher form India who was accused of having connections to a Palestinian militant group is also deportation.
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Under orders by the Trump administration to unease national security - including a full review of visa programs by the U.S. State Department and a potential travel ban o more than 40 countries - more travelers are facing scrutiny by mitigation and border control officers, including a search through their electronic devices by CBP.
..... Up until this past January, [2205] these searches have been :almost negligible," according to Susanne Heubel, senior counsel at New York-based immigration law firm Harter Secrest & Emery LLP. "I travel a lot, I have clients who travel a lot, of all sorts of nationalities and visa statuses, and nobody has ever complained about these searches until now," she said.
Visa holders getting in trouble for expressed opinions
..... Br oder searches of electronic devices, including cell phones, laptops and iPads, are meant to "enforce the law at the U.S. border and to protect border security," according to the CBP website.
..... "Any traveler entering the U.S. is subject to CBP inspection," CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham said in a statement to USA Today. "CBP follows strict policies and directives when it comes to searching electronic media. These searches area rare, highly regulated, and have been serious crimes, including terrorism, smuggling, human trafficking, and visa fraud. Any claim of politically motivated searched are completely unfounded."
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According to Heubel, the officer are checking to ensure the claim you're making about who you are and your visa status are true - for example, if you're on a tourist visa but their's suspicion that you may be working while in the U.S.
..... From a national security perspective, they're also checking for any criminal data or activity on your devices, and if you show any indication that your conduct could be contrary to the interest of the U.S. in terms of security and foreign policy, she said. "A lot of this is sort of being mixed together right now."
..... However, recent cases have brought to ling that public activity relating to free speech, such as social media posts on political issues, is now being subject to searches and subsequent visa issues.
..... There are two types of searches: basic and advanced, according to the CBP website. The former is manually going through the content of your devices, such as your photos or videos, including any deleted ones that are still on your phone.
..... An advanced search is when an officer is suing external equipment to review, copy, or analyze context on your phone if :there's reasonable suspicion of a violation of law enforced or administered by CBP or a national security concern." However, approval must be obtained form a senior manager for this search to be conducted.
..... During these searches, your device is typically in airplane mode or off-line, so the officer can only go through what's on the hard drive or operating system. Heubel said they're not allowed to go through your work email or whatever is stored in the Cloud. However, it could be easy for them to look at them on their end, she noted.
..... The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizures, but the ling gets blurred within 100 miles of international borders. At any port of entry, all of these searches are considered a "resonance search," so no warrant is required. "so, long story short, you have rights, but really, you don't have any rights," Heubel said.